Bayya Suryanarayana Murthy, a.k.a. B. S. Murthy (29 October 1906 – 22 May 1979) was a journalist, poet, short story writer, essayist, and a six-term Parliamentarian He was born in 1906 to B. Nagaiah at Nagaram in Razole
taluk
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
, in
East Godavari district
East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549.
In the Madras Pre ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
.
He was awarded B.A, and BEd degrees from Government Arts College at Rajahmundry, Christian college and Law college in Madras. His proficiency in English earned him gold medals and several trophies for inter-collegiate debates and elocutions. He also served as the vice-president of the Andhra Provincial Journalists Association.
In the year 1937 he was elected as the Member of Parliament of Madras Legislative Assembly under the then affiliate party Indian National Congress. He then became the Minister for Industries and Labour of Madras Government in 1937 to 1939 and again in 1946 to 1947.
He was involved in the
Indian freedom movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...
and took part in an individual
satyagraha
Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...
. During the years 1940-1942, he took active part in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned for a period of about two years. In 1952, after India attained independence, he contested from Eluru constituency and was elected to the
1st Lok Sabha
The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952.
...
. In 1957 he contested for the Kakinada seat as an
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
candidate and won the election.
In the years 1962, 1967 and 1972, he was elected to the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
for the Amalapuram constituency. Between 1962-1967 he served as Minister for Health and Family Welfare in the Union Cabinet. He also served as the Member of Parliamentary Delegation to China in the year 1956, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community development and Cooperation in March 1958, and in March 1959 to January 1966 served as the Minister for Community Development and Cooperation. In 1962 he led a delegation to Rio de Janeiro for the social service world conference.
In May 1970 he served as the leader of the Indian Delegation at the 23rd world health assembly in Geneva. Due to his services in the Indian system of medicine. he was awarded the
Ayurveda Bandhu.
He had deep interests in youth movements and in the welfare of the weaker sections. He led the Satyagraha at Tirumala Venkateswara temple demanding the entry of the underprivileged in 1947 and was successful in this campaign. To honour Perunthalaivar
M. C. Rajah works, Bayya Suryanarayana Murthy founded the M.C. Rajah Memorial Hostel for the college students of the Scheduled Classes in 1944 at Saidapet in Madras.
[Ambeth, அம்பேத்]
Prof. M.C. Rajah's Death (23 August 1943), And Condolence Resolution of The All India SCF And The Justice Party.
/ref>
He was an eminent author and was the editor of the Telugu weekly magazine ''Navjivan''. He introduced essay prizes on the theme on social justice at both Osmania University and the Andhra University. He was also invited for a three-month lecture tour at Harvard University, in the United States of America. He has travelled extensively to countries like Europe, Burma, China, U.K, Thailand, Geneva, Uganda, Zurich, Frankfurt, Berne, U.S.S.R and West Berlin.
Murthy had three siblings. In 1927 he married Adilaxmi and they had five children; three sons, Late, Shri Bayya Nageshwara Rao, Late Shri Bayya Prakash Rao, Dr. Bayya Kishore and two daughters, Bayya Swarajyalakshmi and Kadevari Vijayalakshmi.
He was Hindu by religion. He had an excellent command over the English language and had written several short stories, essays and poems during his lifetime. Some the books which he authored include ''Revolt of Six Cores'', ''Depressed and Oppressed: Forever in Agony'', ''The Glimmer in Darkness'', ''Always at the Helm of Service'', ''Thou, the Curse'' (which was an under-print) and ''Andhra Virakumar'' (written in Telugu).
He died in 1979 and was succeeded by Kusuma Krishna Murthy. He is remembered today as a prominent leader and a parliamentarian in India. He had a very active political career and made achievements which earned him recognition for his exemplary contributions to the people of India.
References
*Suryanarayana Murthy Bayya, Luminaries of 20th Century, Part II, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005, pp:
External links
His book in openlibrary website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthy, Bayya
Telugu writers
India MPs 1952–1957
India MPs 1957–1962
India MPs 1962–1967
India MPs 1967–1970
India MPs 1971–1977
1906 births
1979 deaths
Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh
Union deputy ministers of India
Telugu politicians
Telugu poets
Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh
Prisoners and detainees of British India